Everyone has their happy place. That place where one can go and no matter how crummy of a day they are having, no matter what is going on in the world that is putting a frown on their face, that person can go to that happy place and everything that is weighing them down just gets hoisted off...even if just for a little while. For me that place is a farmer's market, and if I am in San Francisco then that market is the Ferry Building Farmer's Market located at the (you guessed it) Ferry Building in the Embarcadero.
Every Saturday the area surrounding the building becomes swarmed with tourists, locals, foodies, and passers by looking, buying, gawking, awing, sampling, and eating the multiple amazing things that there are to eat and buy. Farmers from all over northern California bring their goods to the Ferry Building and voila magic happens. Lately I have been going early on Saturdays with my executive chef and market superstar, Annie Somerville, and have had the utter privilege of being introduced to and speaking with the vendors which has been fun. It is also nice to be shopping for the restaurant and knowing and seeing where a good chunk of what we are serving comes from and the people that are behind its production and growth. These are some of the nicest people on the planet and you can feel the love and honor they have for their product when you take it home and either cook it up or just straight up eat it.
There are a whole lot of vendors at the market, each specializing in certain produce or prepared foods and sometimes it can be overwhelming but below are some of my favorite items and vendors from the past couple weeks:
Tory Farms: First and foremost I think this family and farm is my favorite at the market. They are so sweet, funny, professional, and just an overall amazing family selling amazing fruits. Right now citrus is in season and the best of the best comes from these fine folks. Oro Blanco grapefruits (they may be a pomelo variety not totally sure) are amazing as well as the completely addictive page mandarins. Stop by, say hi, pick up some treats I promise you will not regret it.
K & J Orchards: Another fun group of people selling great fruits such as Asian Pears (or I guess the more politically correct term nowadays is apple pears), persimmons, and apples. Their apples are my personal favorites at the market (they are also the most reasonably priced) and for those interested in making a whole heck of a lot of cider or apple preserves they have about 1000 pounds they are looking to unload.
There are several other vegetable and fruit vendors but I would like to turn this into a weekly post so not going to go on about every vendor otherwise things will get repetitive repetitive.
Do try the tamales though. Seriously. Go get the tamales. They are good. Really freaking good. That is all.
Remember mom was right and you should eat your veggies because they are good for you and stuff.
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